SM: The Butterfly
by DarkZephyrGirl
Summary: Set about fifteen years after the Sailor Stars Arc, Sailor Zephyrus is awakened and charged with waking up a mysterious Moon senshi, holder of the silver starseed, in order to protect the Earth from yet another invading evil force.
1. Prologue

            _Sometimes there is just no choice in destiny.  It comes up and pushes you ten stories, then let's you live.  _

            -Beep.  Beep.  Beep.-

            "How is she even alive?" the police officer asked the doctor.  She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

            "It is almost impossible for a human being to survive a fall of over one hundred feet, especially with as minimal of injuries as her."

            "I just hope she wakes up soon.  We've questioned all the witnesses, and have the suspect in custody, but we can't do anything without her testimony."

            "We or her parents will let you know we she wakes up.  Her vital signs are promising, and she has stirred and shown response, so she's not in a deep level coma.  It's incredibly surprising, considering, that she is so responsive.  Most people would be dead or a vegetable."

            "I hope she's not a vegetable.  They don't make very good testimonies on stand."

            "We'll get back to you as soon as she is awake, Constable.  Now, if you'll follow me."

            The last thing Bree would remember was the fight.  Ally had yelled at her, screamed that she was a stupid slut and should die.  Bree told her it was all in the ditz's head, and walked out to the balcony.  It was cooler out there.  Ally followed her, shouting some more.  A shadow of a memory told Bree that she'd been pushed in the chest, unnaturally hard for Ally's frame. 

            _Rushing air, my hair flying around my face…._

            Then, oblivion.

            "Where am I?"

            The orderly jumped a mile in the air.  She was changing the sheets on the adjacent bed, not expecting the unconscious girl to move at all while she was in there.

            "St. Micheal's hospital," the orderly answered, regaining her composure.  "I'll fetch a doctor."

            Bree fell back to her pillow.  She was so confused.  The party had been on a tenth floor condo.  But if she had fallen over the balcony, she would be dead.  A skull cracked on the cold, hard pavement bellow, just a mess of blood and grey matter. Ten stories was more than enough to kill someone.  She couldn't have fallen, because _no one could survive that kind of fall._ 

            A short, petite nurse stepped into the room.  Marching purposely over to Bree's bed, she held open both eyelids.

            "What is your name?" she demanded of the invalid. 

            Bree answered confidently.  "Bree."

            "What is your full name?"

            "Gabrielle Sora Zedel."

             The nurse nodded curtly, then strode out the room.  Confused, Bree could do nothing but look around.  Typical, sterilized hospital room.  Someone, probably her mother, had left her favourite stuffed animal on the bedside table.  It was a double room, but no one was occupying the other bed.  The orderly had been changing the sheets, so maybe someone had just left.

            "Gabrielle?"

            Bree turned her head.  A man in a white lab coat had just appeared in the room.  Excitement rose in her chest.  Maybe she would be able to figure out what had happened.  She didn't get the chance to ask though, because the doctor quickly examined her vitals, peering into both her eyes, checking her blood pressure, and testing certain parts on her body.

            "You are a very lucky girl," he stated finally.  "Very little trauma, no lasting damage.  The newspapers are calling you a miracle.  Some are even saying that three angels saved your life."

            Bree nodded like she knew was he was talking about.  "So, um, what happened to me?"

            For a second, the doctor looked started.  _What,__ am I the only one to experience a trauma and not remember the details?_

            "From what the witnesses say, you where having a fight with an Alicia Carter, when you tried to leave by walking out to the balcony of the condo where you were."

            "I remember going out to the balcony, and telling Ally to get lost, I wasn't trying to steal her boyfriend.  Then I woke up here."

            "All the witnesses say that Alicia pushed you, intentionally over the balcony, and told you she wasn't taking any chances.  Miss Carter is currently out on bail, waiting for prosecution for attempted murder."

            "We were on the tenth floor.  I should be dead."

            The doctor shrugged.  "I said you were lucky.  Everyone is stumped.  By all natural laws, you should be dead."

            "Than why aren't I?"  Bree was confused.  It wasn't as if she was looking for death, but it didn't make sense.  No one survives a fall of about a hundred feet.  Nobody.

            _Then why am I alive?_

            Mene stared in the window.  She couldn't take corporeal form outside her host, but she could float around as a spirit.  The girl who was Zephyrus lay inside the hospital.  The others wouldn't let Zephyrus die, not when they had tried so hard in the past lives to keep her alive.  Now it was her turn to pay them all back.  **Something** had tried to get rid of Zephyrus before her destiny could be carried out.  Mene would not let that happen.

            "Vana, it's time."


	2. Chapter One

            Bree collapsed on her bed – her _own_ bed, not a hospital bed.  Her two roommates were glad to see that she was home, though apparently, not enough to consider hiding the newspaper clippings they had saved.  "Local University Student Survives Ten Story Fall", "Miracle Girl Falls Hundred Feet, Suffers Barely a Scratch", and "Rescued by Angels?" were just a few of the headlines covering the papers.  Bree had heard enough of that from the cops, the medical staff, and her parents during her two week stay in the hospital. 

            "Do you need anything?" Grace asked, poking her head into Bree's room.  Bree shook her head.  She had missed Grace while in the hospital.  The chubby brunette always seemed to be a in a good mood.  Bree usually appreciated Grace's maternal attitude, but today she just wanted to rest.  Constantly being accosted by police officers, nurses, and the journalists who managed to sneak into her room was driving her nuts.  They couldn't seem to get the fact the _she didn't know what happened_.  She had been fighting with Ally, had walked away, and out onto the balcony to get some fresh air.  The next thing she knew, she was awake in a hospital bed.  It was her that needed everyone else to explain what had happened.  She could attest to the fact that she had been fighting with Ally about Ty, but it was up to the other ten witnesses to say how Ally had pushed her over the tenth story balcony. 

            _I'm back, alive.  Why?_  Bree had been wracking her brains about how she had survived that fall.  It didn't make sense.  This was not the attention she wanted a month into university.  And on top of all the unwanted attention she was getting, she had two weeks of lectures and labs to make up for.  _Joy_.  School would not be fun tomorrow.  It might've been nicer for her if the fall had killed her.  Not for everyone else, but for her.

            "Here are all the notes you missed, Gabrielle!"

            Yet another person shoved a pile of notes into Bree's hands.  It was ridiculous.  Those people didn't even know her – for one, they used her full name, a dead giveaway.  It was nice of them.  With all the different notes, she should be able to get everything she needed from the missed lectures.

            She left the school, opting for a detour through the park to calm her down.  She was the centre of attention everywhere she went.  And if someone didn't know, they would soon hear the whispers of "Isn't that the miracle girl?" floating through the air.  Bree was going to snap if they didn't leave her alone tomorrow. 

            "Why me?" she groaned out loud, kicking up leaves.

            "Because you wouldn't die, like I wanted you to."

            Bree pivoted, flinging her book bag into the leaves.   Sure enough, there was a tall muscular girl behind her, blonde hair spiked, green eyes flaming.  Ally was going to kill her, Bree knew it.  Those were murderous eyes.

            "Ally, I haven't talked to Ty this whole time."

            "He hasn't talked to me either.  Said something about not wanting to be associated with a psycho.  Maybe it woulda been cooler if I was a real murderer.  How did you manage to survive there, Bree?  True to your namesake and grow wings, little archangel?"

            With a quick glance, Bree could tell the park was deserted all the way to the nearest streets and buildings.  No one could or would hear her scream, and no way could she outrun Ally, ex-star of the university track team. 

            "Ally, think about this.  You could say that you didn't realize how close I was to the edge, and then this would all blow over.  I'll testify to that.  Just don't do what you are about to."  Bree backed off the path, attempting to pick her book bag up.  That was the only weapon she had if Ally really tried to get violent.

            "I want you dead, Bree.  Your starseed shines too bright. It hurts us."

            _Starseed__!?  Us?_  What was Ally talking about?  Her back hit a tree, and Bree looked up.  There was a branch she could grab.  Hopefully she could get very high, very fast.  She was lighter than Ally, so she could get to a spot where she couldn't reach her.  Beside's, Bree had survived bigger falls.  With a breath, she grabbed and swung, catching the branch with her legs and pulling herself up.  Ally began to laugh.

            "Pitiful.  You actually think that will stop me?"  Ally laughed, menacingly.  She advanced on the tree, growing larger.  Her skin began to darken, the green in her eyes beginning to bleed out from her irises, into the whites and pupils.  Her nails grew into claws.  "Come here, kitty, kitty, kitty.  You don't want to be stuck in that tree do you?  I will get you down quickly."  The monster that had been Ally reached up with one hand.  Bree quickly scrambled higher into the tree.

            "What will save you this time, Bree?"  Ally advanced further.  More frightened than she had ever been in her life, Bree grabbed the next branch.  It snapped off in her hand.  Reaching the highest point that would support her weight, the trapped blonde shot another glance at her attacker.  Ally's transformation was complete.  She was a full seven feet tall, her skin gray.  The green eyes were glowing in a now pointed face.  Her hair had turned into real blonde spikes.  Her clothes had turned into a neon running suit.  Shoes gone, both her finger and toe nails had become claws.  At that moment, Bree truly wished that Ally had killed her the first time.  It would have been quicker and less painful.

            "Are you going to fly away angel?  Or are you waiting for something?" the monster queried.  She took a swipe at the tree.  It shook beneath Bree, and she prayed to whatever would listen.

            "_Jump, Bree!_"

            A gust of wind shot through the park, shaking all the of trees, including Bree's.  A blonde girl appeared at the end of the path. 

            "_Jump, you idiot!__  Vanna, go!_"

            Bree realized it was the blonde girl talking to her in that strange, wispy voice.  She looked at the ground.  It was a good thirty feet away.  The blonde girl ran, towards the monster, and passed through her.

            Not believing her eyes, Bree then did not trust her ears in the next second.

            "Grab a hold of me, Bree," a little blue butterfly said, hovering by Bree's head.  It was odd.  It looked too big to be a real butterfly.  The body and the wings also looked a little too solid, almost metallic.

            Below, the monster's attention was turned to the non-corporeal blonde in the funny outfit. 

            "Bree, grab me and say, 'West Wind Metamorphosis!' now," the butterfly urged at Bree's ear.  Unsure if she was awake anymore, Bree took a chance and grabbed the butterfly.  She was right.  It was solid.

            "West Wind Metamorphosis!" she shouted.

_And then my life changed forever.  Those are the three words I can never take back.  And I'm dedicated to the life they opened._

            The butterfly landed in the middle of Bree's chest.  Its wings grew until they were larger than Bree was.  One at a time, they began to shrink.  The top left wing returned to normal size, and a long purple, fingerless glove appeared on Bree's right arm.  The top left wing retracted, and a shorter, light blue fingerless glove appeared on Bree's left hand.  The bottom left wing shrunk, and a light blue boot appeared on Bree's left foot.  On her leg, purple shorts appeared.  The right wing shrunk, leaving behind another light blue boot.  A blue, short top grew out from under the butterfly, and a dark blue skort appeared over Bree's purple shorts.  The butterfly turned to face downwards, at the same time, a dark blue collar and black chocker appeared on Bree.

            "Warrior?!" the monster cried in surprise.  It backed from the tree, unsure of what to do now.  She hadn't been prepared for a sailor warrior.

            Bree had no clue what had happened to her.  Her clothes had transformed, and she also felt…. different.  Something like a renewed, enhanced power filled her body.  The feeling was exhilarating.

            "_Hurry and fight!_" the blonde apparition commanded.

            "Fight how?" Bree asked, but somehow she already knew the answer.  She leapt from the tree, landing nimbly behind the monster Ally.  It turned to face Bree, which was an advantage to the warrior.  She made a motion with her right hand, as if to throw something.  It was instinctive.

            "Razor Wings!"

            Shiny, metallic feathers flew towards the monster.  They swirled around Ally a few seconds before disappearing, leaving Ally covering in shiny green blood and open gouges. 

            "GRAHHH!" the monster screamed.  "How dare you do that to me, warrior?!"  It lunged toward Bree, arm, claw outstretched.  Bree dodged.  The monster came at her again, and again she dodged easily.  Ally was not a track star in this monster form.  She was clumsy almost, in the new body.

            "_Finish her off,_" the blonde girl said, obviously giving another command.  Bree nodded, dodging another slash.

            "Razor Wings!"  Bree made several throwing motions.  The monster was covering in metallic feathers, swirling as if caught in a blizzard.  It screamed, a horrible nails-on-chalkboard sound.  The feathers exploded outward.  Bree raised her arms to protect her face.  Feeling no cuts or metal on her skin at all, Bree looked.  The feathers, and the monster, had disappeared.  The only occupants left in the park where Bree and the strange, ghost-like blonde.

            "What the hell was that?" Bree asked.

            She was back to her regular clothes, out of the uniform she now knew she could transform into whenever she shouted her transformation phrase while touching her transformation item, the blue butterfly charm.  Thanks to Mene, she now knew that the butterfly charm also housed the spirit Vanna, her guardian.  Bree was more than a little confused about the whole thing.

            First of all, the blonde girl that appeared to her and now sitting on her bed was actually an ancient spirit, Sailor Mene.  Apparently, she came from the moon.

            Second, Bree was actually Sailor Zephyrus, a sailor warrior.  Or at least she was when she transformed.  That had something to do with how she survived her large fall.

            Third, she had some sort of mission that Mene had to fill her in on.

            Life was about to get very interesting.


	3. Chapter Two

            The sun shone through the open curtain, catching the metallic sheen of a large, blue-winged butterfly charm.  The light hit Bree's face, convincing her that she had to wake up.  She tried to snuggle deeper into the covers, hoping to ignore the pile of homework waiting for her on the desk.  She reached over to grab her cell phone off the night table for the time, and instead grabbed something else.  Lifting up the butterfly, she muttered, "Oh yeah."

            Swinging herself out of the bed, she shifted around the objects and papers in her table drawer, looking for a note she threw in the day before.  She had just found the pink sticky-note when someone knocked at her door. 

            "It's open!" she called, reading the note furtively again to make sure she was neither dreaming nor going to forget the very important meeting she had today.  Mene had told her that she could only appear at certain times, for reasons unknown to her.

            The door opened wide to reveal Bree's second roommate, Steph.  "OOOO," she exclaimed, spotting the butterfly charm on Bree's night table.  "That's really pretty, Bree.  Where did you get it?"

            Bree glanced towards the charm, which was also the corporeal body for the spirit Vanna.  "Uh," she thought, and then answered truthfully.  "I found it in the park on the way home from the university.  I don't know where you could get one," predicting the girl's next question.

            Steph looked disappointed.  She tugged on one black pigtail, looking uncomfortable.

            "What is it?" Bree asked.  She expected something bad.  Steph never had any problems telling or doing something awkward usually.  If the ebony haired girl looked uncomfortable, it was usually a bad sign.

            "The police picked up Ally drunk on the street last night.  She was fighting with someone, and since she was out on bail, the cops threw her into jail until something further could be done with her.  Knowing her personality nowadays, she attacked her cell mate, a really big woman.  The woman tossed her across the cell, and Ally hit her head on the sink.  They figure that's what killed her."

            "Ally's dead?"

            "Yeah.  But the weird thing is, her body was covered with gouges and scratches that she didn't have when she went into the cell.  And when the cops searched the cell and the other women, they found no objects that could have caused the injuries."

            Bree thought for a second.  "Hey, how did you find this out?"

            "Ally's little sister called me.  She seemed quite calm that her sister was killed in a jail cell," Steph commented.  "I hate to give you this news and run, but I've got a class."  Slowly, she turned and left Bree's room, forgetting to close the door behind her.  Unconsciously, Bree closed the door and slid down to the floor.  She had seen Ally killed in the park.  _How the hell did she reappear as herself?  _Was it only the monster that she defeated, and the real Ally was somewhere else?  The wounds on Ally's body … those were just like the ones caused by Zephyr's attacks, _her_ attacks.  It was all too confusing to Bree.  She needed Mene to explain things to her.

            The sticky-note read: "9PM, Astronomy building".  Bree's day was going to drag until that time.

            Dark and deserted, night classes still in session, Bree wandered the university halls until she reached the Astronomy Building.  Classrooms were mainly empty in the building, as the observatory was located on city limits, not on the brightly lit campus.  A few classes haunted the study rooms, and individuals sat in the simulation labs.  Bree wondered how Mene, a spiritual entity, knew about this place.  Nonetheless, the blonde girl wandered into the basement.  Old telescopes were scattered around everywhere, dusty charts, out-dated models.  She wouldn't be surprised to find things about Pluto's planetary status lying around somewhere. 

            She felt Vanna flutter before she heard Mene's wispy voice call her.

            "Over here, Sailor Zephyr," the apparition called.  Bree studied her more closely.  Her long blonde hair had a silver tinge to it, and though her clothes were similar to the ones Bree donned as Sailor Zephyr, they were definitely different.  Vanna flew out of Bree's jacket pocket, to hover around Mene.  The butterfly appeared to land on the girl's shoulder, and Mene beamed at the butterfly.

            "So," Bree said, grabbing a seat on an old filing cabinet, "do I get a fuller explanation today?"

            Mene looked at Vanna, and nodded.

            "You are Sailor Zephyrus, a sailor warrior whose purpose it to protect planetary systems from evil, planets and organisms alike.  Your power, like those of other warriors, comes from your star seed."

            "What is a star seed?"

            "Everyone has one.  It's pretty much your soul.  But since you are a warrior, you have a very special star seed called a sailor crystal.  It's what gives you your powers, allows you to know about your past lives as Sailor Zephyr, and is what Chaos wants so it can control the universe."

            Bree stopped for a second.  Chaos wasn't just an idea, but an actual entity?

            "So, my mission is to protect star seeds from Chaos?" Bree inquired.

            Mene shook her head.  "Not so broad.  Specifically, your mission is to find the individual who carries my star seed, and wake my powers in her body."

            "Hold on.  How can you appear like this is your star seed is already in someone else's body?"

            "Because I still have my powers somehow, outside of this individual.  I don't know how exactly.  I think it's the fact that there's a threat to the system right now, and there is no one to protect it. The other warriors aren't around to deal with this threat right now for some reason."

            "Other warriors?"

            "The other warriors of this system.  Most systems in the universe have cycles of their warriors, but ours was knocked out of whack somehow.  I should have woken up when the first sign of a threat appeared in this system, but I haven't been able to for millennia.  Something is wrong.  I think the only way I can be woken in my new form is for another warrior to use their power to call me."

            "What if I can't find you?  There are six billion people in this world!" Bree exclaimed.

            "I know my star seed is close to you.  My star seed is in this area, I can feel it.  Zephyr, you have to wake me up."

            "And what if I can't find you?"

            Mene looked down.  "Then it's up to you to protect the Sol System on your own.  Systems without warriors disappear into Chaos."

            Bree considered the weight of her mission.  "I really can't screw up, can I?"  Mene shook her head.  "Well, I guess I'll start looking.  How will I know when I've found the right person?"

            "You'll know," Mene assured her.  Suddenly, Mene disappeared.  Bree looked around the room for the blonde spirit, but saw nothing but Vanna, solid on the floor, a regular charm. 

            Bree trudged out onto the campus lawn, watching students filter out of night classes.  Vanna felt heavy in her pocket. 

_When you are faced with a mission where the fate of an entire system of planets and organisms is on your shoulders, things tend to look a little ominous.  That discussion with Mene did nothing to help me really, only fill me in on what I thought of a hopeless mission.  The funny thing was, I was determined to follow through, wake Mene up, and save the system from whatever threatened it.  I would find Mene, and awaken her in her new body._

            The sun was setting earlier and earlier.  Bree watched the sun go down from the café window when she felt something, an energy force, a dark energy force.  She looked around the café.  It was inside, she knew it.  But, it was moving, getting weaker and farther away.  Quickly paying a passing waitress, Bree left the café, thumbing Vanna in her pocket. 

            "AHHHHH!" a distinct scream came from the alley. 

            "I knew it," Bree mumbled to herself.  She ran between the buildings, glancing around.  "West Wind Metamorphosis!"

            Transformed, Sailor Zephyr ran into the alley.  There was a bald man with grey skin crouched over a girl with long blonde hair beside one of the dumpsters.  He waved his hand, and the girl started to glow faintly.

            "Hey!  You!" Zephyr shouted to the man/monster.  He was emanating evil energy, Zephyr could feel it.  It felt like worms were crawling all over her skin.

            "A true shine," the thing muttered.  Suddenly, its arms extended, one towards the unconscious girl and one towards Zephyr.  The arm curling around the girl was slow, however, Zephyr didn't even see the one that shot at her.  Struck square in the chest, she was knocked onto her back. 

_My first battle on my own did not start out well.  I had no clue what to do, no clue how to fight.  But then, something like instinct must have kicked in._

            Zephyr made a motion like she was throwing a ball with her right hand, crying "Razor Wings!"  Tiny, razor sharp feathers appeared and flew towards the grey monster.  Once barraged with the feathers, the thing howled, but did not release the blonde girl it had in an increasingly tighter grasp.  _I have to make it let her go_, Zephyr thought to herself, while trying to come up with a plan.

            "Razor Wings!"  She attacked again.  This time, she noticed grey pieces fly off the monster.  One of the feathers hit the girl, causing a long cut down her free arm.  Still growling, it appeared the monster was trying to engulf the girl.

            Zephyr studied the body of the monster.  There were shreds taken out of the body.  And weren't growing back.  If there was some way she could shred the monster without hurting the girl.

            A warm glow began to emanate from her chest.  Vanna was glowing.  Zephyr threw her hand in the air.

            "Gale!" she shouted.  Energy began to cluster around her hand.  She threw her hand forward, palm outwards.  "Force!" Wind billowed from her hand in a force close to tornado strength.  The wind barraged the monster, and quickly ripped it to pieces, a leaf in the wind.  The poor girl fell to the ground, surrounded by globs of grey.

            The first thing the girl saw when she open her eyes was Bree with a water bottle.

            "Here," Bree offered.  "What happened?"

            The girl looked confused for a second.  "This guy wanted to show me something.  But when we got around the corner, he changed and then dragged me into the alley.  Then, I felt drained, and then I fainted."

            Bree unscrewed the water bottle, and handed it to the girl, helping her stand up at the same time.

            "I think he ran off when I came around the corner.  He looked funny, but I didn't really see him."

            "Thank you," the girl replied.

            "No problem," Bree said, waving her hand.  She made sure the girl was fine and able to walk home before setting off to her apartment herself.

            Contemplating her new attack as Sailor Zephyr, she didn't see the silver VW Bug that came to a screeching halt right in front of her on the cross walk.  Bree just looked at the girl in the driver seat in shock.  The girl just stared back from under blunt blonde bangs.  Bree could audibly hear the shouting of the older brunette in the passenger seat, not specific words, but she got the point.

            Bree walked away muttering.  One near death experience was enough for her in a year, thank you.  Let alone in a month.


End file.
